Left 8:30, arrived Quincy at 2:30 with a lunch stop in Ursa, population 595.
Thanks to the very nice lady in the coffee shop in Ursa for guiding me to the River Road for my last 15 miles into Quincy.
Lots of rolling hills, beginning almost immediately after leaving Nauvoo. For a short time, right along side the Mississippi then into those darn hills as the Great River Route turns inward and then across rolling farmland. Wow, I now have ridden across those fields I always looked down on from high in airplanes coming and going. Always wondered what was down there. Now I know.
Again today, wind! Sometimes riding straight into it having to pedal downhill (!!) but sometimes the wind at my back, not often enough! Not much traffic and always, without exception, drivers very considerate.
Quincy is an older town located along the Mississippi River, with a downtown typical of those small cities and villages where commerce has moved out to the suburbs. Sort of old and hanging on with banks and civic buildings staying the course. As I remember, my friend Ray Franze went to college here. Looked for your initials on a tree in the park Ray, but that old tree is gone!
Having said that, I had to ride out to a Radio Shack in the newer Mall of Quincy to get a new charger for my cell phone. As I did so, I rode away from the old part of town on tree covered streets through neighborhoods filled with Victorian and what we from California refer to as mid-west bungalow type homes. All large, well maintained and beautiful. Some really stunning architecture. Not to belabor the obvious, but this trip teaches that what is on the surface is not always what you find if you get into the heart of things.
I had dinner last night down along the Mississippi river in a really nice restaurant up high over the river, watching the sunset which was a special treat. Great catfish, asparagus, baked potato and one really special dry Rob Roy!
A word about Dairy Queen. I've now got about 160 miles in on this ride, mostly on back country roads across farmland and alongside the Mississippi River. Although mostly cool and overcast, one works up a tremendous thirst. I carry 2 bottles of water and 1 of Gatorade and go through them all along the way.
Sometime in the middle of the day, I begin to fantasize about a chocolate malt, (with extra malt), in a Dairy Queen which I visualize just down the road or just around the corner. Well, forget that! No DQ's for the entire trip. Not one. Until I got to the Radio Shack. Across the street, a Dairy Queen. Last night I had my desert before I had my dinner!
Off in the morning for at least Hannibal where I'll try to download the pictures. Again.
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